Two witnesses have come forward separately to say they saw a very bright beam of light descend out of the sky on the eve of Sunday July 27.

Norman Willis, 61, of Rugby Road, Burbage recalls seeing the peculiar light at around 11pm. He said: “I had just finished watching a film and I went into my back bedroom to have a look at the sky. It was clear except for one white cloud.

“It was fairly dark but the sky and stars were clear to see. All of a sudden a bright green beam came down out of the cloud for about three seconds before disappearing. It was a continuous beam down.

“I thought it might have been a comet but I’ve not heard anyone mention anything about a comet.”

The second sighting took place on the same night but slightly earlier on. A male witness who lives on the Hollycroft estate not far from the Mill Hill Road entrance said: “I was looking out of my bedroom window which faces directly towards the west. I have a perfect view over the whole area from this window.

“At approximately 9.40pm I happened to notice a very bright stationary blue/white light that appeared to be hovering at first but then appeared to slowly descend out of the sky, turning to a beautiful blue/green colour.

“There was not a sound as I opened my window to listen. It was dead quiet.

“The light slowly descended, very slowly, gradually turning more emerald green as it did so until it appeared to ‘drop’ behind a clump of trees and vanish. I kept looking for about half an hour afterwards but I saw nothing more.”

Graham Hill from the Leicestershire UFO Investigation Network (LUFOIN) said: “We have made checks regarding helicopter movements over the area for the date and time in question, i.e. police and air ambulance, but neither craft were in operation at that time.

“We are treating the sightings as strange but we need more information from anyone else who may have seen something at around that time on the date in question.”

For more information or to report any suspected UFO sightings go to lufoinregister.angelfire.com/home or email lufoin@gmail.com.